Untaught lessons Book

Not very helpful--

I was very excited to start on this book after reading so many good reviews about it. I had my pen at the ready to underline valuable passages and take notes. I expected it to give me specific techniques and tips to improve my storytelling skills.

But alas, my expectations were too high and unreasonable. I came away with a little bit more of appreciation for story and what it can do, but that's about it. No specific techniques or tips that could improve my skills as a storyteller.

The main reason for this deficiency is that story as a form defies "rules" and "models." The author compares story models to dissecting a kitten to understand why it's cute.

Touche.

Story is specific, emotional, personal, and subjective. Good to know that. But that's specifically why it by its nature can't be modeled, codified, or broken down into a bunch of rules.

Although I do believe there could have been more specific tips that might have helped me improve my storytelling skills, it comes down to this: listen to stories and tell stories.

That's the only way to get better at it.

Duh.

I felt the book was too long and underdelivered. It gave some good stories but didn't give me enough information on the specific points it was making (see for example, how to influence the unconcerned and unmotivated).

Overall, despite a few nuggets of golden advice, I was disappointed.